News

Axis Counselling welcomes Telford and Wrekin Council’s decision to hold an independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation (CSE) within the borough. We look forward to working with this inquiry in helping provide victims of CSE with the answers they are seeking, and doing whatever we can to help eliminate this abhorrent crime from our community. Axis is actively supporting the Truth Project and will also be contributing to the national independent inquiry in every way possible. The Truth Project have supplied a Truth Project – social media toolkit for use to get the word out to a wider audience…

Faye Proctor – a friend of Axis Counselling – has been accepted to run in the Manchester Half Marathon in October. She has kindly said she would like the money she raises to go towards the work that Axis does. Please support Faye by clicking on the link below and see if we can beat the target she has set! We wish Faye luck in her training and hope that she does not suffer too many aches and pains! Thank you to Faye, for taking on this challenge, and thank you to you for supporting Faye and Axis. https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/irene-ferguson2

Over the last few weeks there has been much in the media concerning Child Sex Abuse in Telford and specifically about cases in connection with Operation Chalice. There have been references made in a number of publications that Axis Counselling dismissed an employee for ‘whistle-blowing’ and that some sort of ‘out of court settlement’ was reached. This is not true on either count. Due to issues of confidentiality I am not at liberty to divulge the full details around the employment case however I can confirm that the matter concerned was not a whistle-blowing disclosure about the work of Axis….

The Truth Project is part of an independent national inquiry into childhood sexual abuse and gives victims the chance to have their own input. It will be coming to Telford in the near future to hear from victims and the general public following the recent publicity surrounding the issues of child sexual exploitation in the town. The experiences of victims and survivors will feed into the recommendations of the Inquiry, with the potential to make real change. But you don’t have to be from Telford to take part. The links below will put you in touch with the Truth Project…

Axis has welcomed its new Chief Executive Officer, Simon McCloy. Simon has worked in the not-for-profit sector for many years and is looking forward to raising the profile of Axis and securing ongoing funding and growing support for the charity. “I am delighted to be joining such a professional organisation as Axis and one that delivers such a vital service to our community,” he said. Having headed Shropshire Tourism for 15 years, Simon is aware of the challenges facing the third sector. He will be bringing his commercial skills to the position and plans to represent the charity at local,…

A half marathon in a Welsh seaside town was not enough of a challenge for Axis’s sexual violence advisor Sally – she ran the 79 miles to Abersoch to watch the event instead, raising £582 on the way. Sally is an Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA) with Axis, a Shrewsbury-based charity which helps survivors of childhood sexual abuse, rape and sexual violence. She helped raise awareness by wearing a T-shirt with the wording “We don’t run away from tough conversations” during her own run. She hatched the plan with her brother after they both hit milestone birthdays. “We both just like running so we…

Axis has achieved the PQASSO level 1 quality standard award, the leading standard developed for the voluntary sector which shows it provides an effective and efficient high quality user centric service. We believe we may be the first charity in the county to receive the PQASSO level 1 kite mark. “We don’t know of any other voluntary organisations based in Shropshire who have been awarded this registration,” said Tim O’Shea, Axis chief executive officer. The charity has its head office in Fletcher House, College Hill, Shrewsbury, and also has a branch at The Glebe in Wellington, Telford. It was set…